ABC's 'Promised Land' Revolves Around the Sandovals — Who Belongs to the Family?
Feb. 14 2022, Published 12:48 p.m. ET
Matt Lopez's ABC family drama Promised Land has already earned comparisons to Dallas and Dynasty.
Season 1 brings into focus the experiences of Juana (Katya Martín), Rosa (Ariana Guerra), and Carlos (Andres Velez), who cross the Mexico–U.S. border to find work, and the members of the Sandoval family, who run the Heritage House, a vineyard in Sonoma Valley, Calif.
Joe Sandoval is at the helm of the Heritage House. Who belongs to his family? 'Promised Land' family tree: explained.
Described as a modern-day take on William Shakespeare's King Lear by The Hollywood Reporter, Promised Land captures the heated fight for the flourishing vineyard, which is currently spearheaded by Joe Sandoval (John Ortiz) and his wife, Lettie (Cecilia Suárez). Joe and Lettie have a blended family. Lettie shares a son with Joe, Junior (Miguel Ángel García).
Joe and his first wife and wealthy hotel tycoon, Margaret Honeycroft (Bellamy Young), share three kids, Veronica (Christina Ochoa), Carmen (Mariel Molino), and Antonio (Tonatiuh). Antonio used to be in a relationship with Javier (Cruz Delgado), the newly hired manager of Heritage House.
Lettie and Joe are also raising Mateo (Augusto Aguilera), Lettie's son from a previous relationship. Mateo used to manage the vineyard. Lettie's ex-husband is now a priest.
Several power players pose a threat to the family operation.
Most notably, Margaret, a local hotel magnate who already knows the vineyard like the back of her hand, is ready to re-acquisition the place which she claims has been stolen from her father. Margaret teams up with her son, Antonio, to get ahead and carry out the plan.
The Sandoval kids are far from the only ones pining for the Heritage House in 'Promised Land.'
Elsewhere, Juana and Rosa cross the border together, meeting Carlos Rincón later down the line. During the journey, Carlos helps the girl narrowly escape an attack. The atrocity helps bring the three closer together. Ultimately, the girls follow Carlos's lead, heading over to the Heritage House where he knows they will be able to find work.
Landing a job at Heritage House allows Carlos to finally reunite with his brother, Billy (Rolando Chusan), who happens to have a not-so-easy-to-ignore ulterior motive — he wants to claim Heritage House as his own.
In alignment with modern soap-opera traditions, the warring of the siblings make up a considerable chunk of the plot. Eager to one day take over their father's business, the kids engage in funny games — but they are far from the only ones to stir up drama.
The black sheep of the family, Antonio masters the art of scheming at a young age. Actor, screenwriter, and activist Tonatiuh sat down with Hollywood Life to share further details about his on-screen character, detailing why there seems to be a rift between Antonio and the rest of the clan.
"I personally think there’s a certain psychology behind it. When you’re betrayed by your family, it’s almost like I want you to feel what I felt," he said. "There’s also the male arrogance, or maybe I’ll call it the machismo — I’m entitled to this company or this tribe or to the head of the family, so I’m coming back to take my rightful place."
As the actor suggested, Antonio's relationships with his family might be teased out in more detail in the forthcoming episodes of the show.
Catch new episodes of Promised Land Mondays at 10 p.m. EST on ABC to find out what's next for Antonio and the rest of the family.
